Tuesday, July 21, 2015

This is an "Ema". "Ema" are small wooden plaques on which Shinto worshippers write their prayers or wishes. The ema are then left hanging up at the shrine, where the kami (spirits or gods) receive them. They bear various pictures, often of animals or other Shinto imagery, and many have the word gan'i (願意), meaning "wish", written along the side. In ancient times people would donate horses to the shrines for good favor, over time this was transferred to a wooden plaque with a picture of a horse, and later still to the various wooden plaques sold today for the same purpose.

Ema are sold for various wishes. Common reasons for buying a plaque are for success in work or on exams, marital bliss, to have children, and health. Some shrines specialize in certain types of these plaques, and the larger shrines may offer more than one. Sales of ema help support the shrine financially.

******** This Ema is from Sumiyoshi taisha (住吉大社), also known as Sumiyoshi Grand Shrine, is a Shinto shrine in Sumiyoshi ward in the city of Osaka, Japan.

It is called "Sumiyoshi-san" or "Sumiyossan" by the locals, and is famous for the large crowds that come to the shrine on New Year's Day for hatsumōde.

Sumiyoshi taisha enshrines the Sumiyoshi tanjin—Sokotsutsu no Onomikoto, Nakatsutsu no Onomikoto, and Uwatsutsu no Onomikoto—and Okinagatarashihime no Mikoto (Empress Jingū), and they are collectively known as the "Sumiyoshi Ōkami", the great gods of Sumiyoshi. Another term is "Sumiyoshi no Ōgami no Miya".

It gives its name to a style of shrine architecture known as Sumiyoshi-zukuri.

This hand towel is called a "tenugui". A
Tenugui (手拭い) is a thin Japanese hand towel made of cotton. It is
typically plain woven and is almost always dyed with some pattern. It
can be used for anything a towel could be used for - as a washcloth,
dishcloth, but often as a headband, souvenir or decoration. Towels made
from terry cloth have replaced many of its use in the household. However
tenugui are still popular as souvenirs, decorations, and as a head
covering in kendo, where it functions as a sweatband, as extra padding
beneath the headgear (men), and to identify the participants by team
color.

This is an "Ema". "Ema" are small wooden plaques on which Shinto
worshippers write their prayers or wishes. The ema are then left hanging
up at the shrine, where the kami (spirits or gods) receive them. They
bear various pictures, often of animals or other Shinto imagery, and
many have the word gan'i (願意), meaning "wish", written along the side.
In ancient times people would donate horses to the shrines for good
favor, over time this was transferred to a wooden plaque with a picture
of a horse, and later still to the various wooden plaques sold today for
the same purpose.

Ema are sold for various wishes. Common
reasons for buying a plaque are for success in work or on exams, marital
bliss, to have children, and health. Some shrines specialize in certain
types of these plaques, and the larger shrines may offer more than one.
Sales of ema help support the shrine financially.

********This Ema is from Narumi Jinja Shrine in Nagoya. Dod is playing a money hammer. They are lucky charms in year of dog.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

This is a vintage branding iron called a "yakiin". These were/are used on wood, leather...food...anything you want to brand. Please see the last picture to see an example of how it can be used.

I think they would look fabulous if used in pottery as a stamp. Also...I think they could be used with ink but as it is metal, the image wouldn't be as smooth and clear as a rubber stamp -please keep that in mind if that is how you want to use it.

This is an "Ema". "Ema" are small wooden plaques on which Shinto worshippers write their prayers or wishes. The ema are then left hanging up at the shrine, where the kami (spirits or gods) receive them. They bear various pictures, often of animals or other Shinto imagery, and many have the word gan'i (願意), meaning "wish", written along the side. In ancient times people would donate horses to the shrines for good favor, over time this was transferred to a wooden plaque with a picture of a horse, and later still to the various wooden plaques sold today for the same purpose.

Ema are sold for various wishes. Common reasons for buying a plaque are for success in work or on exams, marital bliss, to have children, and health. Some shrines specialize in certain types of these plaques, and the larger shrines may offer more than one. Sales of ema help support the shrine financially.

Monday, May 25, 2015

This is an "Ema". "Ema" are small wooden plaques on which Shinto worshippers write their prayers or wishes. The ema are then left hanging up at the shrine, where the kami (spirits or gods) receive them. They bear various pictures, often of animals or other Shinto imagery, and many have the word gan'i (願意), meaning "wish", written along the side. In ancient times people would donate horses to the shrines for good favor, over time this was transferred to a wooden plaque with a picture of a horse, and later still to the various wooden plaques sold today for the same purpose.

Ema are sold for various wishes. Common reasons for buying a plaque are for success in work or on exams, marital bliss, to have children, and health. Some shrines specialize in certain types of these plaques, and the larger shrines may offer more than one. Sales of ema help support the shrine financially.

I was very lucky to find a set of vintage but brand new (never used) doll heads. These were meant to be used to make dolls for Hina Matsuri or doll's festival but I was told that instead they were put away (maybe the doll maker retired but I'm not 100% sure about that) and therefore are in pristine condition.

This one measures about 8cm long including the stick. The details are really amazing! The head is made from porcelain.

About Hina Matsuri

Platforms with a red hi-mōsen are used to display a set of ornamental dolls (雛人形, hina-ningyō?) representing the Emperor, Empress, attendants, and musicians in traditional court dress of the Heian period. The custom of displaying dolls began during the Heian period. Formerly, people believed the dolls possessed the power to contain bad spirits.

This is an "Ema". "Ema" are small wooden plaques on which Shinto worshippers write their prayers or wishes. The ema are then left hanging up at the shrine, where the kami (spirits or gods) receive them. They bear various pictures, often of animals or other Shinto imagery, and many have the word gan'i (願意), meaning "wish", written along the side. In ancient times people would donate horses to the shrines for good favor, over time this was transferred to a wooden plaque with a picture of a horse, and later still to the various wooden plaques sold today for the same purpose.

Ema are sold for various wishes. Common reasons for buying a plaque are for success in work or on exams, marital bliss, to have children, and health. Some shrines specialize in certain types of these plaques, and the larger shrines may offer more than one. Sales of ema help support the shrine financially.

******** This Ema is from Mamushigaike Grand Shrine (蝮ヶ池八幡宮) in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan. There is an image of cow and pine on this wood plaque for lucky charm in year of cow.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

These are so cute! They are filled with traditional Japanese images of summer- sunflowers, morning glories, watermelon, paper fans, anti-mosquite coil, summer shoes, "furin" (wind chimes) and of course there is a beach!

These measures about 15 x 10 cm (6 x 4 inches). There are 3 in the set.

This is a beautiful sheet of Japanese stickers. There are many cute hand fans with summer theme designs like morning glory, fireworks, beach, watermelon etc. There are also water-balloons and colorful pinwheel toys. The edge of each sticker is sparkle gold color.

These would be perfect for scrapbooking, card making or any project you can think of!

This is an "Ema". "Ema" are small wooden plaques on which Shinto worshippers write their prayers or wishes. The ema are then left hanging up at the shrine, where the kami (spirits or gods) receive them. They bear various pictures, often of animals or other Shinto imagery, and many have the word gan'i (願意), meaning "wish", written along the side. In ancient times people would donate horses to the shrines for good favor, over time this was transferred to a wooden plaque with a picture of a horse, and later still to the various wooden plaques sold today for the same purpose.

Ema are sold for various wishes. Common reasons for buying a plaque are for success in work or on exams, marital bliss, to have children, and health. Some shrines specialize in certain types of these plaques, and the larger shrines may offer more than one. Sales of ema help support the shrine financially.

Friday, April 24, 2015

This is a beautiful sheet of Japanese washi stickers. There are many sticker strips with plum blossoms, temari balls, fans, cherry blossoms, pine and more. These are perfect for scrapbooking, collage or any project you can think of!

*****These were so hard to take pictures of. I promise you they look amazing in person!